2016 Postmortem

Here are some articles I have found to be very thoughtful, that give me some comfort about continuing to live among all my fellow Americans.

Trump's deliberate flouting of Political Correctness served to distract Hillary from talking about jobs. (and boy, did she take the bait. Every Hillary ad that I saw focused on Trump's comments) His coarse statements didn't matter to Trump's voters, because they are focused on survival matters - jobs, jobs, jobs. (Of course, I don't believe Trump will actually bring back blue collar jobs to the Rust Belt). This article explains:
https://medium.com/@jesseleburke/how-trump-won-or-how-hillary-lost-aa6dfbcd4b8b#.rgkyne51l

Another: You Are Still Crying Wolf. Stop trying to convince Americans that all the other Americans hate them. Stop.Stop.Stop.
http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/16/you-are-still-crying-wolf/

The single greatest predictor of whether a person voted for Trump? Trump voters believe in the melting pot, not multiculturalism. 9 out of 10 Trump voters agree with this statement: “people living in the U.S. should follow American customs and learn English.” 1 in 4 Clinton voters also agree with the statement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/opinion/presidential-small-ball.html?_r=0&mtrref=undefined&gwh=AC51910CB0EBA7A219D384DCDA05F15A&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion

I've long said that I'm a feminist, not a multiculturalist. I don't respect cultures that don't respect women. I fully agree with the progressive economic agenda, but I part ways on the idea that I should welcome seeing the melting pot culture I grew up in swept away, and I should welcome seeing burkas at my local mall, for example. No, I do not.

It's not healthy for America to have pockets of Taliban culture among free Americans of all colors and orientations. The father of the Orlando shooter was an immigrant, a Taliban sympathizer, who raised his US born son in Taliban culture, not American culture. 50 gay Americans died as a result.

I feel that Democrats and Americans seriously need to reevaluate multiculturalism. The 'emerging white minority' is now one more identity group in identity politics, and the result is white nationalism. As was predicted by this prescient article from 1999:
http://www.unz.com/article/california-and-the-end-of-white-america/

Trump is not going to solve the economic problems of desperate people. But people voted for a carnival barker because he at least respected them and their culture, imho. Democrats have to respect white rural hunting culture as much as they respect any other culture, if they want to have any chance to win.